Truck side frame



March 4 1924.

T. V. BUCKWALTER TRUCK SIDE FRAME Filed July 1, 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 T. V. BUCKWALTER TRUCK SIDE FRAME Filed July 1, 1922- 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar, 4i, lit-9924i.)

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ING COMPANY, OF CANTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

TRUCK SIDE FRAME.

Application filed m 1,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it' known that I, TRACY V. BUCK- wAL'rnR, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Canton, in the county of Stark and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Truck Side Frames, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to side frames for car trucks and has for its principal object to provide for the economical manufacture thereof by slittingand expanding rolled bars of suitable cross section. The invention consists principally in a truck side frame wherein the strut members or column guides thereof consist of lapped tongues integral with the frame and formed by suitable slitting of the bar. It also consists in a specially slitted blank; it also consists in the arrangements and combinations of parts and in the process of manufacture hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts wherever they occur,

Fig. 1 is a side view of a rolled blank suitable for the manufacture of my truck side frame,

Fig. 2is an end view of said blank,

Fig; 8 is a view of the blank after it is slitted and sheared, the portions that are sheared away being indicated by dotted lines.

Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7 are cross sections of the slitted and sheared blank on the planes indicated by the lines 4t, 5'-5, 6-6 and- 77, respectively, in Fig. 3.

Fig. 8 is a side view of the sheared and slitted blank partially opened up and with w the tongue portions bent (for the purpose of illustration) part way to their final positions.

Fig. 9 is a side view of a complete truck side frame.

Fig. 10 is a side view and Fig. 11 is an end view of a modified form of blank suitable for making a truck side frame.

Fig. 12 is a side view of saidblank after shearing and slitting, with the sheared portions indicated in dotted lines.

Figs. 13, 14 and 15 are cross sections of the sheared and slitted blank of Fig. 12 on the planes indicated by the lines lit--13 of said frame intact.

1922. Serial No. 572,356.

14314 and 1515, respectively, of Fig. 12 an Fig. 16 is a view of the completed side frame made from the blank illustrated in Fig. 10.

The blank 10 illustrated in Fig. l, is a section, of suitable length for a truck side frame, out from a bar of greater length which is a rolling mill product. This blank comprises a central web 11 with three pairs of longitudinally extending ribs or flanges 12, 13, 14 on its sides, the ribs on one side of the web being opposite those on the other side, thus forming a cross section which is well adapted for manufacture by the Ordinary rolling mill. Tnthis design, the web extends above and below the ribs.

In the space 15 between the middle ribs and the lower ribs, the web of the blank is slit with two longitudinal slits. The lower slit 16 is located about midway of the length of the blank and is slightly longer than the overall distance between the strut members or column guides of the finished sid'e frame. The other of said longitudinal'slits 17, which is hereinafter referred to as the middle slit, is located above said first mentioned slit and extends far enough beyond the ends of said first mentioned slit to permit the top and bottom portions of the blank to be spread apart the distance required for the purpose of a truck side frame but terminating short of the ends of the blank so as to leave the end portions The web is provided with a short vertical slit 18 that connects the above described longitudinal slits at or near their middle points.

At the ends of the middle longitudinal slit, the blank is provided with short transverse slits 19, 20 that extend through the middle ribs of the blank; and from the upper ends of each of these short vertical or transverse slits there is another longitudinal slit 21 that extend toward the middle of The system of slitting above described may be described as producing two sets of tongues. The lower pair of tongues 22 are formed by the middle and lower longitudinal slits 16, 17 and the lower transverse slit l8, and therefore are integral with the blank at their outer ends. The second pair of tongues 23 are formed by the middle and upper longitudinal slits and the upper transverse slits; and these tongues are integral at their inner ends with the Web of the blank.

In order to provide for the proper setting of the ends of the truck side frame, the end portions 24 of the web below the lower pair of ribs are cut away (as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 3) thus, providing said end portions of the frame with a wide flat lower surface. In like manner but for the purpose of affording desired clearance above the ends of the frame, the upper corner portions 25 thereof are sheared off as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3. Preferably the line of shearing begins at a point in the upper edge of the blank above the end of the upper slit; and from the point thus defined the line of shearing extends obliquely downward and outwardly to the upper surface of the upper pair of ribs and thence along the upper surface of said ribs to a point above the axle and thence obliquely outwardly to the upper surface of the middle pair of ribs and thence longitudinally to the end of the blank. In like manner, the upper part of the middle portion 26 of the web is cut away for a distance about equal to the width of the truck bolster.

After the blank is slit as above described, it is expanded by suitable machinery; that is, the middle parts of the upper and lower portions of the blank are pulled or otherwise spread apart and shaped conformably to the upper and lower chords of a truck side frame, said chords being integral with each other at the ends of the frame. That is, the middle of the upper portion of the blank is left horizontal but displaced bodily upwardly a relatively small amount; and the middle of the lower portion of the blank is left horizontal but displaced bodily to a relatively greater amount, this relatively greater displacement of the lower portion of the web involving a certain amount of stretching or elongation of the inclined portions that connect the horizontal middle portion of said lower chord to the respective ends of the frame.

The tongues 22, 23 formed by the slitting of the blank hereinbefore described are struck up to form the strut members or columns and bolster guides of the side frame. That is, the tongues of the upper part are bent downwardly parallel with each other at a distance apart suitable for accommodating the truck bolster and their lower ends messes are riveted to the ends of the spring seat provided for the purpose. The tongues of the lower pair are bent upwardly and riveted flatwise to the tongues of the upper pair as illustrated in Fig. 9. It is noted that on account of the distribution of the slits, the middle flanges or ribs of the blank become part of the upper pair of tongues and as such constitute the strut members or columns for the truck and guides for the bolster. The ends of the truck side frame are provided with suitable bolt holes for secur ing the side frame to the other elements of the truck.

As the manner of using a truck side frame is well known, I have considered it unnecessary to illustrate a complete truck herein, but, in lieu thereof, I refer to Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,409,128, granted to me Mar. 7, 1922.

It is noted that in the finished truck side frame, the upper pair of ribs or flanges are parts of the upper chord of the side frame and serve to materialiystiffen and strengthen the same. The middle pair of ribs or flanges form the bottom of the top chord through the middle region thereof and form part of the strut members or columns which they materially strengthen. At the same time, this middle pair of ribs form the top and sides of the bolster box. The lower pair of ribs form part of the bottom chord of the side frame and greatly increase the strength thereof.

The blank illustrated in Fig. 10 represents a modification of cross sectional design. In this modification, the upper pair of ribs is flush with the top of the web, in consequence of which there are no ribs on top of the inclined portions of the upper chord of the side frame. Tn this modification, also, there is a wider spacing between the middle and lower ribs or flanges than between the upper and middle ribs. The particular reason for locating the middle ribs closer to the upper ribs than in the design illustrated in Fig. 1 is to increase the cross sectional area of the inclined portions of the upper chord and thus make up for the elimination of the vertical top flange.

Obviously, the cross sectional design of the blank may be varied to meet the esti mated stresses to which it will be subjected, and I do not wish to be restricted to the particular cross sectional shape illustrated.

Wat I claim is:

1. An expanded metal truck side frame comprising spaced top and lower chords integral with each other at their ends and strut members integral with one of said chords and secured to the other chord.

2. An expanded metal truck side frame comprising spaced top and lower chords integral with each other at their ends and strut members integral with one of said chords and secured to the other chord, said strut members having ribs continuous with web and three pairs of ribs thereon, said web extending below the lowermost ribs, said blank having a long longitudinal slit just below the middle rib and a shorter longitudinal slit below said first mentioned slit and connected thereto at the middle thereof by a cross slit, and alined longitudinal slits above the middle ribs and connected at their outer ends to the ends of said first mentioned slit by cross slits.

5. A blank for a truck side frame comprising a web having three pairs of laterally extending flanges integral therewith, said web having a relatively short lower longitudinal slit in its middle portion, a longer longitudinal slit above said first mentioned slit and a transverse slit connecting them at the middle thereof, and two relatively short longitudinal slits above said second mentioned slits and transverse slits connecting the outer ends of said second and third mentioned slits and extending through the middle flange.

6. The process of making truck side frames which consists in slitting a rolled blank with a long middle slit, short upper slits above the respective end portions of said middle slit and connected to the ends thereof by cross slits, and a relatively short lower slit connected to said middle slit at the middle thereof, and then spreading apart the upper and lower portions of said blank to form the top and lower chords of the side frame and striking up the tongues between said slits to form bolster guides for the side frame.

7. A truck side frame comprising integral compression and tension members having slitted portions bent towards each other on opposite sides of the middle of said frame and rigidly secured together to form a L bolster guide.

Signed at Canton, Ohio, this 27th day of June 1922.

TRACY V. BUCKWALTER.

LII

Certificate of Correction.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,485,588, granted March 4-, 1924, upon the application of Tracy V. Buckwalter of Canton, Ohio, for an improve ment in Truck Side Frames," an error appears in the printed specification requiring correction as follows: Page 2, line '84., for the number 1,409,123 read 1,409,153; and that the said Letters Patent sholud be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 1st day of April, A. D. 1924.

[snnn] KARL FENNING,

Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

